The Tale of the Big Computer
Deluxe reading, performance, and silent concert by Anna Lundh
155 Freeman Street, Brooklyn, NY
Saturday, February 25
Doors at 6 p.m., performance at 6:30 p.m.
In 1966, at the cusp of the computer age, Olof Johannesson published the sci-fi novel
The Tale of the Big Computer, about the rise to power of an all-encompassing, perfectly rational computer network. But “Olof Johannesson” never existed—the name concealed the identity of Hannes Alfvén, the 1970 winner of the Nobel Prize in physics. Alfvén’s novel, a Swedish best seller, inspired in turn a “computer opera” by the composer Karl-Birger Blomdahl, never to be completed or premiered after Blomdahl died of a heart attack. All that remain are fragments of evidence. Lists of noises such as “sword against shield, water boiling, meat frying, steam engine, a falling guillotine, subway, a radio being squeaky and noisy, the first voice of a sputnik, washing machine, dishwasher, A-bomb explosions.” Collaborators and collaborators’ collaborators including Billy Klüver, Pontus Hultén, Öyvind Fahlström, and others involved with
E.A.T. (Experiments in Art and Technology).
Anna Lundh is a visual artist, born in Sweden and based in Stockhom and New York. Lundh’s work investigates cultural phenomena, social agreements, technology, and language and takes the form of video, installation, text, Web-based work, and performance. She graduated in 2008 with an MFA from Konstfack University of Art and has also studied at the Cooper Union. In recent years, she has participated in residency programs such as LMCC Workspace in New York and Omi International Arts Center, Ghent. Anna Lundh has exhibited at Apexart, Marian Spore, Leo Koenig Projekte, and X-Initiative/Rhizome in New York, as well as Franklin Street Works, Stamford. In Sweden, her work has been shown at Bonniers Konsthall, Haninge Konsthall, and Kalmar Konstmuseum. Most recently, her solo show “Grey Area” opened at Entrée in Bergen, Norway.
From Stockholm to “9 Evenings: Theatre and Engineering.” Photo by Anna Lundh.
